John Williams and his three daughters wanted an unforgettable trip to Hawaii and contacted us to help them plan it! John hadn’t worked with us before and was a referral from a friend. He put his trust in us to plan a vacation of a lifetime for his girls and we are so thrilled we delivered. Each island in Hawaii is different and we’ve been to them all! We love planning trips to these beautiful islands and are excited to share John’s experience with you! If you’re thinking about going to Hawaii, check out all of the details John shared with us below. Thanks for the great review of your trip, John!

Vacation Date: January 2020

Travel Advisor: Andrea Norfolk

Destination: Hawaii

Resorts:
Hilton Waikoloa Village in Kohala
Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort

Length of stay: 10 days

Why did you choose your destination for your vacation?
I have three girls and they have been talking about it for a long time. I have never heard people talk about a negative experience in Hawaii.

What excursions or activities did you do on your vacation?
On vacations, I generally do excursions every other day, otherwise you can feel rushed. We did a helicopter tour of Volcanoes, Night Manta Ray Adventure, Bus tour of Volcanoes Nation Park, and tour of Pearl Harbor. They were all great, but two events stuck out as unique. The helicopter tour of the Volcanoes and the Night Manta Ray Adventure just seemed like once in a life time experiences. Absolutely amazing experiences that you will never forget, and they make for great social media posts (get a GoPro for the water experiences).

What was your most memorable moment from your vacation?
Waking up and walking 50 feet to the resort lagoon to snorkel before breakfast. We saw sea turtles, eagle rays, exotic fish and a number of other natural wildlife that you would normally only see at your ‘local’ aquarium.

What were the top things you would recommend doing?
1. Night Manta Ray tour
2. Helicopter tour
3. Snorkeling at resort lagoon and two step
3. Sunset dinner at the Resort Restaurant (KPC - Kamuela Provision Company)
5. Tour of Black beach, White beach, and Green (yes green) beach.
6. Kualoa Ranch - Best Oahu Tours on Oahu (Place where Jurassic Park was filmed). Has horseback riding, zipline, ATV rides, etc.

How was your experience using Shoreline Destinations for planning your trip?
So I am a ~50 year old single professional with three daughters and I don’t have limitless amounts of time to work through every minor detail of a trip. My first step was to send general information to five travel agencies to get the best deal, as this is a major family expense. I think most travel agencies think if you can go to Hawaii you have limitless funds. Let me assure you this is not the case. Andrea saved me close to 40% off the median, allowing me to spend more on excursions, luxury dining, and car rental. Andrea even pointed out that changing the trip from winter break to Jan 2nd saved close to $8k.

I had my daughters identify some things from the internet they would like to do, so we all contributed general ideas to try. Andrea identified some options that worked with our general plans and accurately communicated timing, prices, and effort. A few weeks before we left an itinerary was sent, which was well organized and tabbed off with reminder notes and ideas. It also included magazine type brochures of each island. Everything was taken care off, it was like having your own personal secretary taking care of all your concerns.

The best benefit of using Shoreline Destinations were that the 'small' details that were taken care of. Small details that can turn into big problems. Andrea provided ideas on ‘free’ places to go, like snorkeling at a park called two-step, notes that fireworks were at a certain location on Fridays. She even changed the routing of our flight back to the east coast from Chicago to Dallas a few weeks ahead, just in case there were winter conditions in Chicago in January.

I truly can’t say enough about the service, professionalism, and the general approach given to a family with limited funds. I will try and use Shoreline Destinations for any future trips I have. I suggest you do the same.

- John Williams

Cheers to all things travel!